The Myth Of The Spanish Inquisition

[Katholikos]

[b]THE MYTH OF THE SPANISH INQUISITION[/b]

The Black Legends of the Spanish Inquisition, used by Protestants for 400 years to vilify Spain and the Catholic Church, have no basis in fact.

This is the conclusion of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), which produced a recent documentary for “education and training” entitled, [b][i]The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition[/i][/b]. The Legends are based on a “falsehood disseminated 400 years ago and repeated ever since,” according to the documentary. The video opens with a scene from Monty Python. The narrator says, “Long before Monty Python’s caricature, history had reached its verdict. The Spanish Inquisition is infamous. Four centuries of condemnation have made the Spanish Inquisition a byword for cruelty, terror, and tyranny. But this image is false.”

The Inquisition was operational for 350 years, but was most active in Spain between 1480 and 1510. The Protestant revolt began in 1517. Protestants began a propaganda campaign against Spain and the Catholic Church, using the newly invented printing press as their weapon. These Protestants began producing and disseminating myths that became known as the Black Legends, calling the Spaniards rapists and sodomizers of young boys, among other outrageous accusations.. “But in 1567 all the myths came together in the publication of one document --:

[b][i]A Discovery and plain Declaration of Sundry and Subtill Practices of the Holy Inquisition of Spain[/i][/b].”

The author/s masqueraded as a Protestant victim of the Spanish Inquisition and used the pseudonym of Montanus. In this fraudulent document, the Inquisition was described as “a court without allegiance to any earthly authority, a bench of monks without appeal. There is nothing else in the world to go beyond them in their most devilish examples of tyranny. Indeed, they do so far exceed all barbarousness a man cannot aptly but liken them to that which they most closely resemble and from which they proceed: their sire, Satan himself.” There were allegations of the horrors of torture chambers, including use of the infamous “Iron Maiden.” (This device was a German invention and never crossed the borders of Spain.)

In truth, the Inquisiiton used torture less than other tribunals. In England, you could be executed for damaging shrubs in public gardens. But the inquisitors were bound by strict rules. Living conditions, inhumane treatment, and torture were all falsified. "Compared to other tribunals in Europe, the Inquisition was almost enlightened," the BBC says.

The Inquisition kept copious and meticulous records of its activities. The Vatican opened the archives of the Inquisition to scholars in 1998. It was already known to professional historians from records available in Europe that the Inquisition as viewed in the popular culture was a myth. Now they have the actual records at their disposal.

Fewer died for heresy in Spain than in any other country. In 350 years, 3,000-5,000 people were victims of the Spanish Inquisition. In the rest of Europe during the same period, 150,000 “witches” were burned for heresy alone by secular tribunals, and many more were burned for other “crimes.”

The Black Legends of the Spanish Inquisition are bull-oney.

One scholar among many who has revised his history of the Inquisition as a result of studying the archives is British historian Henry Kaman, a Jew. Kaman says on another video entitled [i][b]Inquisition [/b][/i] which aired on the History Channel, “The Catholic Church has nothing to be ashamed of.”

Inquisitors were university lawyers, who demanded facts and evidence for the conviction of anyone, setting the model for modern jurisprudence.

I found this article online, which will reinforce the information on this thread.

[url="http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp"]http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp[/url]

References:
Video: The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition, BBC
[i]The Spanish Inquisition, A Historical Revision[/i], Henry Kaman, Yale University Press, 1998

I apologize for the length of the thread, but it was necessary to cover the salient facts.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Excellent post.

[ruso]

Yes, I'm Spanish. Less of 3000 victims.

Edited October 24, 2006 by ruso

[thessalonian]

Protestants were in favor of death for heresy as well. Look up the story of the Geneva Inquisition. It wasn't Catholic and John Calvin wanted to be merciful to the universalist Servetus and behead him rather than burn him. But hotter heads prevailed. Foxes book of Martyrs proclaims Catholic persecutions of Protestants by the GOVERNMENT but he never mentions the preferred method of protestant "Good Queen Bess" Elizabeth, who preferred the method of ripping the bowels out of Catholics while they were still alive. Foxe knew Elizabeth quite well, yet decried persecutions by Catholics and ignored hers along with some of the "victims" of the Catholic persecutions who were involved in persecutions themselves. The story is definitley clouded by Protestant folklore about the events. I've had protestants tell me that 150 million people were killed by the Church. How gullible can you be. They would have had to kill almost the entire population in the time frame discussed.

Were their wrongs committed? I am sure there were but not near to the extend claimed.

Another balanced view on this by a Protestant writer is "Salvation at Stake" by Brad Gregory. It looks at both the Catholic and protestant side.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Salvation-Stake-Christian-Martyrdom-Historical/dp/0674007042"]http://www.amazon.com/Salvation-Stake-Chri...l/dp/0674007042[/url]

Blessings

Edited October 24, 2006 by thessalonian

[Katholikos]

The most galling fact of all these Black Legends is that they began as the deliberate and malicious lies of Protestants, and they have been repeated over and over again as "truth" for centuries by other Protestants and used to beat up Catholics and the Catholic Church. They use their own lies about us to accuse us of wrongdoing. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!

Praise Him and exalt him forever in His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church!

------------------------------------------
Blessed Father Damien, pray for us!

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='thessalonian' post='1099806' date='Oct 24 2006, 09:53 AM']
I've had protestants tell me that 150 million people were killed by the Church. How gullible can you be. They would have had to kill almost the entire population in the time frame discussed.[/quote]
Not only is that amount close to the population size as a whole, but, given that you have to take into account the necessary restraint in order to arrest a man and get a man to the place where he would die, there would have to be quite a force on the Catholic side. I mean, think about it...150 million people...how many soldiers would you need to crush such an uprising? Do they think the European population was 300 million at the time?

[Winchester]

K,
Did you ever read "Characters of the Inquisition"? It's a pretty good book, details the lives of a few inquisitors.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1099838' date='Oct 24 2006, 09:03 AM']
Not only is that amount close to the population size as a whole, but, given that you have to take into account the necessary restraint in order to arrest a man and get a man to the place where he would die, there would have to be quite a force on the Catholic side. I mean, think about it...150 million people...how many soldiers would you need to crush such an uprising? Do they think the European population was 300 million at the time?
[/quote]Think of the difficulty the Germans had in killing their millions with modern technology.

[Katholikos]

[quote name='Winchester' post='1100692' date='Oct 25 2006, 08:25 AM']
K,
Did you ever read "Characters of the Inquisition"? It's a pretty good book, details the lives of a few inquisitors.
[/quote]Hi, W. I used the BBC -- known to be anti-Catholic -- as my source for this thread 'cause I figured it would be more readily accepted by Protestants. But I really like Walsh's book, written in 1940 long before the Spanish Inquisition archives were assembled in one place and opened to scholars. The truth about the Inquisitions has long been known to historians, but the average joe and jane still believe the myths.

[Katholikos]

Where's Budge?

[toledo_jesus]

[quote name='Katholikos' post='1100899' date='Oct 25 2006, 03:14 PM']
Where's Budge?
[/quote]
Budge probably won't respond to this...she's allergic to facts.

[Justified Saint]

The amount of executions in the first few decades of the Spanish Inquisition, its most active period, is not as easily calculated since the record is not as complete. However, if there ever was a reign of terror it was certainly then and it is likely that about the same amount of people were executed over those few decades as would be in the next 300 years.

In any case, the Spanish Inquisition certainly was a myth created by Protestants and later maintained by the "rationalists" of the age. Its sheer size, uniformity, and longevity made it an easy target.

[Lounge Daddy]

This is a fantastic thread
thanx, all!

[Romans1513]

Ok, this is good and all, that its not so bad as made out to be, but...

3000-5000 people is still a lot. In terms of killing, 1 person is more than it should be. Aren't we against capital punishment? The fifth commandment: "You shall not kill"?

Someone help me out on this one please...

~Katie

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Romans1513' post='1102155' date='Oct 27 2006, 01:46 AM']
Ok, this is good and all, that its not so bad as made out to be, but...

3000-5000 people is still a lot. In terms of killing, 1 person is more than it should be. Aren't we against capital punishment? The fifth commandment: "You shall not kill"?

Someone help me out on this one please...

~Katie
[/quote]
Several different points in your question:
3000-5000 is a lot compared to what?
The commandment is better translated "Thou shall not murder", which is not the same as capital punishment. Capital punishment cannot be condemned - it is part of natural law and the state's legitimate right, today the church asks it should be rare.
It is also wrong to look at the past thru the lenses of todays culture, and decide they were barbaric and we are not.

[suuran]

Good post. I did some research on this a while back, and I recall that there was one brief period when several hundred people were executed before the Inquisition was reformed...not sure about the details, though. Besides that, the Inquisition was there to [i]clear[/i] charges of heresy, not ruthlessly introduce new ones.

In fairness to Protestants, though, I rarely hear Inquisition talk from them. That stuff more often issues from the mouths of militant atheists while they're talking about how religion is the greatest evil in human history (Dawkins actually proposes that--his latest book is called The God Delusion).

Anyway, thanks again for the reality check!

[thessalonian]

[quote name='Romans1513' post='1102155' date='Oct 27 2006, 12:46 AM']
Ok, this is good and all, that its not so bad as made out to be, but...

3000-5000 people is still a lot. In terms of killing, 1 person is more than it should be. Aren't we against capital punishment? The fifth commandment: "You shall not kill"?

Someone help me out on this one please...

~Katie
[/quote]


From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

Now back then there was much greater need for it. It was even used for lesser crimes such as stealing horses. People also took heresy alot more seriously. Heresy was akin to killing the soul which was as bad if not worse than murder of the body.

One should also read Romans 13 in regard to this discussion.

Rom.13
[1]
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.


[2] Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist [b]will incur judgment. [/b]
[3] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
[4] for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not [b]bear the sword in vain[/b]; [b]he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. [/b] [5] Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
[6] For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
[7] Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
[8]
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Edited October 27, 2006 by thessalonian

[Akalyte]

Great thread! Its so good to see ya back Katholikos!

[Katholikos]

[quote name='Jalazar' post='1102467' date='Oct 27 2006, 01:33 PM']
In fairness to Protestants, though, I rarely hear Inquisition talk from them.
[/quote]When I was growing up Protestant, I heard it plenty, plenty (and believed it). And I read it now on the Internet at Protestant websites and in discussion groups incessantly and stridently. Protestants have three favorite weapons to use against Catholics: False versions of the Galileo story, the Inquisiton, and the Crusades.

May God have mercy!

-----------------------------------------
Blessed Father Damien, pray for us!

[Budge]

Whatever happened to..."We're sorry this ever happened"? instead of constant whitewashes of history? Ive noticed a [b]drop[/b] in the Inquisition numbers claimed by Catholics within the last TWO YEARS of dealing with Catholics online.

How many torture, and burned at the stake victims are ok by Jesus Christ? {Do you seriously think God is going to cut a break on the fact it may have been 2,000, instead of 200,000 or 2 million?}

Ye do not know what Spirit you are of....honestly when Catholics start defending, excusing and praising the Inquisition, you all give me the willies. The Inquisition was definitely of Satan. You really do yourself nor your church no favors with threads like this. Instead of a Catholic with a heart and conscience who would say "The Inquisitions were a horrible thing", here you are defending them!